Corrupt data, help!

[KirTomson]

I run a Maxtor - 200Gb HD(IDE), limited to 130GB, split in two partions on Win98SE. Lately, my PC would not always recognise this drive on the boot. After rebooting a few times it would. Yesterday all of a sudden I saw that both partions show gibberish. After reboot, 1st part became normal, but the 2nd still shows wierd signs and mostly unreadable.
What can/should I do to get my data back?
Thanks!

 

[Crashman]

It might be impossible to recover that data. What chipset/IDE controller were you using? I've only seen this phenomena with certain 3rd party RAID controllers or VIA onboard IDE controllers.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[KirTomson]

it's VIA controller

 

[RichPLS]

now you have diagnosed the problem...

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

This is a problem that affects a significant minority of VIA chipset platforms. It can be caused by a configuration issue, BIOS issue, or driver issue. It's actually a hardware defect that's had patches made in BIOS and drivers.

The most common configuration issue that agrivates the problem is between an SB Live series card and the 686B southbridge. While the problem remains larger, removing the agrivating factor may be enough.

So you'll want to 1.) Make sure you've got the latest BIOS update 2.) Try a different VIA chipset driver 3.) If you have an SB Live, try downloading a driver update.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[KirTomson]

Thank you all!
I have a VIA KT266A chipset, latest drivers, latest bios and and Audigi snd card. This disc worked for a year without a problem.
The only changes to the system that I did lately was
Adding older Maxtor HD
Installing DirectX 9
Trying to connect an external LaCie(400GB)HD(Unsuccessfully)

Could any of this had any effect?
I don't understand where the problem is. The disc is not damaged. One partion returned to normal after reboot, but second not. What does it mean?

 

[Crashman]

If it went a year before doing that, I'd try a format and reload. I doubt the changes you made caused the problem.

Of course you could keep looking for a way to rescue the data, I just have doubts that you'll be successful at recovering it.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>